Opinion
25141-22L
03-28-2024
THOMAS BLACKWELL & POLLY BLACKWELL, Petitioners v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Respondent
ORDER
Diana L. Leyden, Special Trial Judge
Pending in this case is respondent's Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Jurisdiction (motion), filed August 23, 2023. By Order served March 21, 2024, this case was assigned to the undersigned for the purpose of disposing of the motion.
At issue in this case are: (1) decision letters the IRS issued to both petitioners sustaining a Notice of Federal Tax Lien Filing with respect to petitioners' joint federal income tax liabilities for tax years 2013 and 2014, and (2) a decision letter issued to petitioner husband sustaining a Notice of Federal Tax Lien Filing and proposed levy action in a Notice of Intent to Levy and Notice of Your Rights to a Hearing (notice of intent to levy) with respect to I.R.C. § 6672 trust fund recovery penalties for the following periods: 12/2015, 03/2016, 06/2016, 09/2016, 12/2016, and 03/2017.
The Court has been holding respondent's motion because it raises questions of the application of the Court's opinion in Organic Cannabis Found., LLC v. Commissioner, 161 T.C. No. 4 (Sep. 27, 2023) to the facts of the case. Although in his motion respondent states that petitioners do not object to the granting of the motion, the Court will first direct the parties to address Organic Cannabis Found., LLC before acting on the motion.
As in Organic Cannabis Found., LLC, petitioners received an equivalent hearing, and the IRS Independent Office of Appeals (Appeals Office) issued decision letters thereafter. However, respondent's motion was filed before the issuance of Organic Cannabis Found., LLC, and the record does not currently reflect: (1) respondent's position as to whether the Court would have jurisdiction to review the decision letters if petitioners' requests were timely under the principles of equitable tolling, and (2) petitioners' positions as to whether they are entitled to equitable tolling. Respondent's motion is wholly premised on the fact that no notice of determination concerning collection action was sent to petitioners because they did not timely request a collection due process (CDP) hearing within 30 days.
On July 1, 2019, the IRS Office of Appeals was renamed the IRS Independent Office of Appeals. See Taxpayer First Act, Pub. L. No. 116-25, § 1001, 133 Stat. 981, 983 (2019). We will use the name in effect at the times relevant to this case, i.e., the Office of Appeals or Appeals Office.
Respondent's motion and the attached exhibits indicate that the IRS received petitioners' hearing requests on July 12, 2019, more than 30 days after both the notice of intent to levy (dated March 21, 2019) and Notice of Federal Tax Lien Filing (mailed April 25, 2019) were issued.
Accordingly, it is
ORDERED that, on or before April 29, 2024, the parties shall each file a memorandum of law, or other response to this Order, in which they address the above-described issues. It is further
ORDERED that respondent's Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Jurisdiction, filed August 23, 2023, is held in abeyance.